CCFEW Logo 200x105

Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront

Updated: Sept 13, 2023

What’s New

Renew your membership for 2023 online.

Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan

220 Lake Prom Development

Fall Bird Walk Dates

Long Branch Tree Fest - Sept 24

Updated Meeting Schedule

Subscribe to our email list

 

Welcome
Screenshot windows

Windows on the Lake

What are they? Where are they? Why should you care? What needs to happen?

Click this link or the image above to learn more.

 

Listen to the story on CBC’s Metro Morning aired on June 15, 2023

Welcome to ccfew.org

Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront (CCFEW) has been around since 1989, but this website was launched in October 2005 to improve communications with our members and other members of the community.  Back in 1989, Etobicoke was a city.  Now it's the south west portion of the City of Toronto.  We haven't changed our name though.  It's already long enough!  (We pronounce it “see few” to avoid tongue sprains.)

CCFEW was founded to fight development proposals in the former Mimico “Motel Strip”.  We spearheaded the fight to secure public access to this section of waterfront.  This resulted in reduced condominium densities, and the creation of Humber Bay Shores Park.

Our Objectives: 

  1. To promote a healthy waterfront environment through preservation, rehabilitation and education.
  2. To seek maximum parkland through the preservation of existing parkland on Etobicoke's waterfront, and the acquisition of additional waterfront lands for park purposes.
  3. To promote meaningful citizen involvement in decisions affecting the environment.
  4. To seek to ensure that any development or redevelopment is compatible with its surroundings in scope and scale.

While the specific threats and challenges change with time, these founding objectives remain relevant today.  Residential redevelopment continues to be an area of concern with increasing pressure for high density developments along the lakeshore.

Our Annual Meeting in February provided an opportunity to reflect on what we have been up to over the past year. _MG_3814ccBird walks are our biggest form of public outreach and by the fall of 2022, we had returned to normal operation with no pre-registration. Between construction and the pandemic, we hadn’t had a walk in Mimico / Humber Bay since February 2020. We returned there for a walk in November. Despite the challenges of the Humber Bay Park closure, this is still a worthwhile endeavour. We see participants here who don’t come out to walks at Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

There have been no new developments on our “Windows to the Lake” (a.k.a. “road ends”) efforts. After the big win at Miles Road in 2021, we are still waiting for work to begin on that parkette expansion. Road-Ends-LabelledWe made a presentation about “Windows to the Lake” to the New Toronto Residents’ Association. The issue was news to most people there, but we aren’t aware of further action.

In May, we launched a petition, both on paper and online, to urge the removal of the dam on the lower Etobicoke Creek. While official response was slow in coming, the site was fenced-off in July. In October, we learned that consultants had been retained to update the assessment that was done over 20 years ago when we were originally promised its removal.dam-overview

Early this year, just before our AGM, the fencing came down blocking the Etobicoke Creek Trail at the QEW. A new trail was completed north of the QEW just before the bridge construction started. We are in contact with the project manager and hope to see the missing link completed soon so that we will finally have a paved trail from Lake Ontario right up to Sherway Drive.
tree fest.ccfew table and anna.sept.25.2022cs6
We participated in two festivals this year. The Spring Bird Festival was overwhelmingly successful. It was by far the best attended in the festival’s history. Was it a trend or a post-lockdown phenomenon? We will find out in May, but we have already planned changes to help deal with the volume of visitors. We also participated in the Long Branch Tree Festival which, despite starting in torrential rain, was a success as well. The Tree Festival is in its infancy but looks likely to become a regular fixture on the fall calendar.

[Home] [What's Up] [Activities] [Parks] [Links] [Contacts]

Top of Page

Home          Contact